Kai's Trial book one: Prodigal
by SwimmerNinja13
Summary: Kai and his dad were close. Really close. He never thought he'd lose him so soon. After hurting Nya at their father's funeral and refusing to go to the burial service, things spiral for the worst starting with his grades and ending with his faith. Until one day he runs away from it all. Can one thing change all that or will Kai never return? Contains Christian themes.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Here's book one of my sub series for Kai. It takes place at the same time as Beat Again, but the stories will be going completely different directions so neither of them will actually give away spoilers for the other.**

"Kai!" Daniel smiled and ran towards his son, "I'm so glad you made it!"

Kai and Daniel embraced in a typical "man hug" as the two of them called it.

"Nya and Jay got here an hour ago. We're waiting on you to start dinner."

"Okay. Would you mind helping me with my bags then Dad?" Kai asked.

"Sure. How was your trip to Texas?" Daniel asked anxious to hear of his son's latest and greatest college excursion.

"It was amazing! I wish you and Mom could have come. You would have loved it there!" Kai replied. The entire week he had been fascinated by the view of the desert, and knew his parents would have loved to see God's masterpiece as well.

"Yeah, well Pastor Matthew needed our help taking care of some things with Sheryl passing away last month."

Kai looked at the ground. He had missed Sheryl's funeral while away for a different college sports trip. Sheryl deserved a good amount of credit for helping his parents become Christians in the first place. He couldn't remember how often they had had her over for dinner just to talk since then.

"You still miss her?" Kai asked.

"Yeah, but at least she's with God and her Luke now," Daniel sighed and opened the door.

The scent of pork chops wafted through the air into Kai's nostrils, "yum," he sighed.

"You know, I wrote it into my will that you'll get my secret recipe one day," Daniel nudged Kai's elbow jokingly and sat down alongside Lauren, Nya, and Jay.

Kai threw his bags into his room and joined them. He was looking forward to this meal.

He didn't think he'd inherit the pork chop recipe that night.

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Sorry it's been forever since I last updated this. I really got going with others, and kinda abandoned this one. Any who, here is the next chapter!**

Kai sat alone in the funeral home. Just him and the casket and a lady in the back kitchen making sandwiches. He would find it creepy if it weren't so depressing.

His father was dead. Kai was alone.

"You're here early," Kai looked up and saw his mom walking in dressed solely in black despite it being the visitation only, not the funeral until tomorrow.

"I just wanted to pay Dad his last respects in private," Kai admitted. He felt tears dripping down his cheeks. Yes, he was crying.

Lauren sat down beside Kai and put her arm around his shoulder like any mom would, "are you holding up okay Sweetie?" She asked and looked down at Kai's scarred wrists he had conveniently covered up with long sleeves. It was like she knew everything. Kai made a decision then and there that he would be leaving tomorrow after the funeral: never to come back.

(Line break. Computer is broken so sorry)

"Can I talk to you?" Nya asked the morning of the funeral, "alone?" She asked as she skimmed the crowded church for an empty corner where they could talk.

"I guess so," Kai shrugged. He only hadan hour left before he would disappear forever. He might as well say goodbye, "what?" He asked when they were finally alone.

"You're not going to..." Nya trailed off.

Kai knew what she meant though, "no. I'm not going to kill myself. That was a one time thing Nya!" Kai scoffed wondering how on earth she knew about what he had done in the bathroom two nights before out of misery. Even so, he felt his skin prickle where he had cut himself.

One thing was clear. He had to get out of there now!

 **Question time!**

 **Where's Kai going? (And no, he's not committing suicide)**

 **Did Nya actually know Kai was cutting himself or was she talking about something else? (Your guess since the way this story is going means you probably won't find out soon.)**

 **How much do you think Lauren knows about what's going on?**

 **What's going on with Lauren besides grieving over her husband? (Shhh!)**

 **Sorry this was so short. I'm tired and need to get to bed, and I figured if I kept going I wouldn't be done until eleven which is way too late! See Ya!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everyone! Guess what? Friday's my one year anniversary on fanfiction! To celebrate, I'm updating all my stories, even the ones I'm sort of taking a break on this summer, throughout the week and have a special Oneshot for all of you my amazing friends coming on Friday. So without further ado, here's a much needed update on Prodigal. One last thing, Kai's dad died of a stroke in this. I never actually mentioned that, since the companion story about Nya did, and I got it mixed up.**

Kai zipped his sweatshirt up and made a run for it to his car hands filled with luggage.

"Want some help Kai?" Jay called from the porch where he was standing, rubbing his arms together in the nighttime cold.

"I'm good!" Kai replied.

"How about, do you want your keys?" Jay yelled again and held Kai's keys in the air for him to see.

"Whoops!" Kai chuckled and set his bags down, "I must have forgotten those. Everything's so overwhelming, you know?" He asked as he walked on back to the porch.

Jay nodded his head, "Yeah. Remember when my Grandma died when we were still in college? I forgot to turn in my thesis paper more than once. Luckily, Mr. Wu was fine with it considering the situation."

"I remember that. Mr. Wu was the best," Kai said as he stretched out his arm and took the keys from Jay. A little too far actually.

Jay looked down and saw the line of scars stretching across Kai's lower arm, "Kai?" He stuttered in disbelief, "How, how long have you been doing this?"

"Since the night before the visitation," Kai admitted, "You can't tell Nya or my mom. Promise me Jay! Promise me!"

"I, I, I can't Kai. Nya's told me fifteen times today since the burial service that she's worried about you. I can't just go on and tell her that I'm sure you're alright."

"Well then fine, just wait until I've left. I don't want to be here when you say it," Kai folded his arms, "now excuse me, I need to go say goodbye to everyone else. It's going to be awhile until I see you again."

"Thanksgiving?" Jay asked.

"Yeah," Kai lied.

"One last thing, promise me you won't cut yourself again."

"Promise," Kai said between his teeth. Lying. Again.

"I'm gonna be praying for you, you know?"

"Mmm hmm."

Five minutes later, Kai was gone, driving into the darkness. Alone. He had no destination in mind other than away. Away from family. Away from the people he feared of disappointing. Away.

That sort of thinking was what wound him up at a shabby hotel two in the morning with five unanswered calls from his sister and an urge for any place to live down.

Inside sat two girls "working" the graveyard shift at front desk. One was a ginger sipping coffee from a Styrofoam cup. The other had slightly darker hair and had clearly woken up when the bell rang signaling Kai's entrance.

"Do you have a reservation?" The girl with the coffee asked.

The other girl stretched her arms in the air and yawned.

"No, but I really need a place to sleep. Do you have any rooms available?" Kai yawned.

"Let me check. What's your name? I'm Skylor and this is my friend Claire," the girl replied.

"Kai."

"So how did you wind up here at two in the morning Kai?" Claire asked getting up to brew her own Styrofoam cup of coffee.

"I could ask you the same thing," Kai replied sarcastically.

Claire turned around, "Believe it or not, I work here, and we're new, so we're stuck on the graveyard shift. I'd much rather be doing something in music, but it's just so impractical with where I'm at right now. I'm lucky to get to lead worship at my church on Sundays," Claire explained before turning around to kick the counter holding the coffee maker, "Come on, work you stupid thing! We have GOT to convince Ben a working coffee maker is something worth investing in!"

"Works just fine for me!" Skylor laughed before turning back to Kai, "so let me guess, you ran away from home and need a place to sleep and a job? You're in good company. We can set you up for an interview with Ben tomorrow morning I'm sure, just fill these out," Skylor said handing Kai a stack of papers from her desk.

"Thanks, now about any available rooms?" Kai yawned again.

"We have one, floor two, room 277," Skylor replied.

"We offer free continental breakfast from six to ten, cable tv, and bookkeeping, just don't get on May's bad side, otherwise you might not get chocolates under your pillow," Claire rattled off kicking the counter again, "Come on, work!"

"Thanks. I'll go get my stuff."

Kai stepped outside to the brisk night air. He was glad he was still wearing his sweatshirt. He grabbed his bags then walked back in just in time to hear Claire shout "finally!" As a jet of black liquid came streaming out of the machine.

"Elevators on the right, here's your key, enjoy your stay," Skylor smiled.

As Kai entered the sterile tiled elevator, he hoped he'd be hired for the graveyard shift. Late nights with those girls could be fun. Especially with Skylor. He desperately wanted to know why she ran away from home. He had a feeling they'd have a lot in common.

Kai opened the door and flicked on the lights to find a small orderly room with a bed, bathroom, chair, and coffeemaker that hopefully worked better than the one Claire had kicked the living daylights out of in the lobby. Kai set his stuff down and headed straight for the shower using the flowery stuff provided. It was different than home, but he had a feeling he would have to get used to it. He would be staying here awhile. There was nowhere left to run to, and he couldn't go back home.

He towered dry and put on a fresh pair of pajamas. He felt clean. As he drifted off into a blissful sleep, he felt the best he had in days. The scars on his wrist were gone, his dad was still alive, and he didn't have to worry about failing his family. For a few short minutes, he was happy. For a few short minutes, he was free.

 **So what do you think? That chapter was long, but I just couldn't stop.**

 **Will Kai get the job?**

 **Why'd Skylor run away? If you read Broken Girl, before I deleted it, you might know. I'm going to rewrite that as well as some stories on Cole, Zane, and Cole, but I want to develop my main stories on Kai, Jay, and Nya first.**

 **Will Jay tell?**

 **I'm going to try to update this again soon, but first I need to update all my other stories, so it may be awhile. :( Thanks to all of you who have read and reviewed this so far. You've been such a help in making this one year anniversary possible.**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated anything lately. I got obsessed with a time travel series and have been reading the books non stop when I'm not swimming, eating, doing chores, or watching every episode of Ninjago again with Jack since he has strep throat. Speaking of which, when we were watching infamous, we heard a ding at the point on the rooftop where the timeline resets after Jay's last wish. Did anyone catch that the first time? We didn't.**

"You're hired," Mr. Landon, the hotel owner, said and shook Kai's hand firmly.

Kai let out a breath. One thought raced across his mind. Good. He could finally start over and not worry about failing his family anymore.

(Time skip)

"Come on, work, please!" Claire yelled and banged her first against the coffee maker.

"I don't think it can understand you," Skylor rolled her eyes.

"Does this happen every night?" Kai yawned.

"Yep, and you better hope Claire gets it to work soon or it'll be a long night for you."

Kai yawned again as Skylor pulled up a sign in screen on her computer. She tapped in her name then proceeded to explain how Kai could access the system, "just type in your name, and our password is sunmotels16."

"Got it," Kai yawned for a third time.

Skylor yawned too, "why are yawns so contagious?" She muttered then changed the screen to a game of solitare.

"Forget it. This thing isn't working," Claire yelled kicking the poor excuse of a machine for good measure. The Styrofoam cup she'd set beneath the spout fell on the floor, and coffee came spewing out.

Claire sighed, "I'd really like to say some bad words right now!"

Kai smiled and made a mental note to bring in Starbucks the next day. This sure was a one of a kind job.

(Time skip)

Kai dropped a bag of doughnuts on the front desk and handed Claire and Skylor their coffees.

"You are literally my favorite person alive right now!" Claire exclaimed pausing in between every word, "thanks!"

Claire said that close to every night now. Whoever brought her coffee was her bff until the next time around. Kai rolled his eyes. Skylor was rubbing off on him.

Admittedly, working with two girls (mostly Claire) who obsessed over coffee and could be LOUD when they wanted to be was a handful, but once Claire fell asleep and Skylor got indulged in whatever computer game she chose to play that night, things could be really enjoyable.

Skylor and Kai talked about everything now that they'd all settled on taking turns to buy coffee and they didn't have to listen to Claire bang on the coffeemaker. Kai had learned Skylor ran away at eighteen from her abusive father and applied at the university where she met Claire and became a Christian. Kai told her about losing his father and running away since he couldn't bear to face his mom and especially his sister considering they used to be two peas in a pod.

"Can I ask why you didn't just tell them you were cutting yourself? It seems a little silly to run away just because of that."

Kai scowled, "that's none of your business, okay?"

Skylor quieted, "sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

"It's okay," Kai sighed, "it made so much sense at the time. I couldn't tell them, and my family has a way of calling every day. Running away just seemed to be the only way to escape telling them."

"I get it. Running away wasn't just about going to college and getting away from my dad. My sister," Skylor paused, "Aubrey, committed suicide a year before, and I was scared it was my fault. I know now it really wasn't, but I thought that if my Dad found out, he'd kill me for real. I was too much of a coward to commit suicide, thank God, so I ran away instead," Skylor sighed, "but life's turned out to be something worth living now."

"I guess the same goes for me," Kai shrugged, "everything seems better now that I'm away from it all."

Skylor and Kai sat in silence for a while.

And a while longer.

Then Kai spoke, "sometimes I wonder if I made the wrong choice though. I mean, what would my dad think of me running away? Is he disappointed?"

Skylor didn't say anything for a while, "I really don't know Kai, but can I ask you something?"

Kai shrugged, "fire away."

"Would you go to church with me and Claire next Sunday? You look like you could use a little hope."

Kai sighed, "I don't know. I just don't see how a loving God could take my dad from me. I don't think I believe anymore."

"Then you need to come," Skylor pleaded, "the first time I stepped foot in church was the first time I started living, I mean really living."

"I'll think about it," Kai sighed.

Skylor's face lit up, "okay. The service starts at nine. I usually sit up front so Claire can join me when she's done with worship if you'd like to join us."

"I'll look for you then," Kai said through his teeth. There he went, lying again.

Weeks passed by, and Kai didn't attend. He couldn't. He knew Skylor was upset, but he could live with that. They brought it up a couple times after, but it mostly became taboo between them especially when they started dating.

Even more so when they messed up big time.

Again even more so when they broke off.

Kai never saw it coming. After the breakup, Skylor said nothing to Kai. Kai felt empty inside. His one friend, gone, and it was his fault. Just like everything with his family was.

He wanted to quit work but didn't. Claire knew something was going on when Kai and Skylor quit talking. He didn't know how much Skylor had told her, but he knew running away would only clue Claire in to what happened at the apartment she and Skylor shared on a weekend she was out of town.

Turns out, he didn't have to.

Skylor left instead.

 **So what did you think? I know I left the part about Kai and Skylor's relationship vague, but that seemed the only safe way to do it from a Christian standpoint. I refuse to write what happened, but I'm sure you can guess it. I'm really excited since this story has finally reached the turning point. Everything is going downhill from here. The question is though, it downhill a good thing or bad? Take a guess. See Ya!**

 **#God's Not Dead!**


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